Abolition Day. Designating December 6,in 2021 and in each succeeding year, as Abolition Day in Virginia.
Virginia Law Enforcement Professional StandardsCommission Accreditation Grant Fund and Program. Establishesthe Virginia Law Enforcement Professional Standards Commission AccreditationGrant Fund (the Fund) and the Virginia Law Enforcement ProfessionalStandards Commission Accreditation Grant Program (the Program). TheFund and Program shall be overseen by the Department of CriminalJustice Services. Disbursements from the Fund shall be made to law-enforcementagencies to pursue accreditation from the Virginia Law EnforcementProfessional Standards Commission.
Absentee voting; signature match; provisionalballot status. Requires the signature on the voter affirmationstatement on an absentee ballot return envelope to match the signatureof the voter on the application for the absentee ballot or the signatureof the voter on file in his registration record. The general registrarsare required to review the affirmation statement upon receipt ofan absentee ballot returned by mail and to compare the signatures.An absentee ballot that is missing the signature or has a signaturethat does not match shall be handled as a provisional ballot. Thevoter is entitled to submit a cure affidavit, affirming that the ballotwas submitted by him, is his ballot, and that he is registered andqualified to vote in such election, and a copy of a form of identificationcontaining his name, signature, and photograph, until noon on thethird day following the election. If, at the electoral board meetingfor determining the validity of provisional votes, a majority ofthe board finds that the signature on the cure affidavit matchesthe signature on the absentee ballot, the vote shall be counted.Notice to the voter is required by email, text message, or telephone call, and if the absentee ballot is received on or before the seventhday preceding the election, by first-class mail as well.
Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity; small business resource for changes in the law. Requires the Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity (the Department) to publish on its website, by November 1 of each year, a resource to assist small businesses in the Commonwealth to navigate recent changes in the law impacting small businesses. The bill requires each state agency to submit to the Department, by September 1 of each year, a list of all statutory or regulatory changes that have become effective in the previous fiscal year or are known to become effective in the current fiscal year that will impact the operations and labor requirements of a broad spectrum of small businesses in the Commonwealth. The bill provides that each state agency is only responsible for submitting statutory and regulatory changes that the state agency is responsible for implementing or enforcing and requires the responsible state agency to include a summary of the change, written in layman's terms, and contact information for the agency. If a state agency determines it is not responsible for any such statutory or regulatory changes, the bill requires such agency to notify the Department. The bill defines "statutory or regulatory change" to mean any act of assembly or any new regulation or amendment to an existing regulation that occurred as a result of an act of assembly. The bill requires the Interdepartmental Board to establish criteria that will be used by state agencies in identifying statutory and regulatory changes that will impact the operations and labor requirements of a broad spectrum of small businesses in the Commonwealth.
Absentee ballots; witness requirement; printedname and residence address. Requires that a witness to a voter's absentee ballot provide, in addition to his signature, his printedname and residence address.
Pandemic Remediation Task Force established. Establishes the 22-member Pandemic Remediation Task Force (the task force) as an advisory task force in the executive branch of state government, to be administered by the Department of Education, for the purpose of making recommendations on strategies for improving public education in the Commonwealth in response to the COVID-19 pandemic that can be implemented in each region and local school division in order to achieve a measure of uniformity in such improvements across the Commonwealth. The bill requires the task force to (i) develop recommendations for policies and funding that would assist public elementary and secondary school students impacted by school closures and the remote learning environment during the COVID-19 pandemic to adequately obtain core educational material that they may not have otherwise successfully retained during the course of such pandemic; (ii) develop a uniform strategy for public elementary and secondary schools to effectively identify students in need of remediation as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and provide remediation coursework and resources to such students; (iii) consider the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on student achievement gaps and make recommendations on the interventions and additional services, such as tutoring, mentoring, and services from private educational service providers, that may be necessary to ensure that such gaps do not widen further beyond pre-pandemic levels; and (iv) submit to the Governor and the General Assembly, no later than December 1, an annual report on its work. The task force has a sunset date of July 1, 2024.
Health insurance; association health plan for real estate salespersons. Provides that a licensed insurer may issue a policy of group accident and sickness insurance to an association of real estate salespersons (association), which association shall be deemed the policyholder, and that such association health plan is not considered to be insurance and is not subject to the existing requirements for insurance if certain requirements are met. The bill requires that (i) all members of the association be eligible for coverage and membership, including employer members with at least one employee that is domiciled in the Commonwealth or self-employed individuals; (ii) membership in the association not be conditioned on any health status–related factor; (iii) the coverage offered through the association be available to all members regardless of any health status–related factor; (iv) the association not make health insurance coverage offered through the association available other than in connection with a member of the association; and (v) premiums for the policy be paid from funds contributed by the association or associations, or by employer members, or by both, or from funds contributed by the covered persons or from both the covered persons and the association, associations, or employer members. The bill also requires the association (a) has at the outset a minimum of 100 members; (b) has been organized and maintained in good faith for purposes other than that of obtaining insurance; (c) has been in active existence for at least five years; and (d) has a constitution and bylaws that provide that the association hold regular meetings not less than annually to further purposes of the members, that the the association collects dues or solicits contributions from members, and that the members have voting privileges and representation on the governing board and committees. The bill provides that any such policy shall (1) be considered a large group market plan subject to all coverage mandates applicable to a large group market plan, (2) be subject to the group health plan coverage requirements under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, (3) be prohibited from denying coverage under the policy on the basis of a pre-existing condition, (4) shall be guaranteed issue and guaranteed renewable, (5) provide essential health benefits and cost-sharing requirements, and (6) offer a minimum level of coverage designed to provide benefits that are actuarially equivalent to 60 percent of the full actuarial value of the benefits provided under the plan. The bill requires an insurer issuing such policy to an association to (A) treat all of the members and employees of employer members who are enrolled in coverage under the policy as a single risk pool; (B) set premiums on the basis of the collective group experience of the members and employees of employer members who are enrolled in coverage under the policy; (C) not vary premiums by age, except that the rate shall not vary by more than four to one for adults; (D) not vary premiums on the basis of gender; (E) not vary premiums on the basis of the health status of an individual employee of an employer member or a self-employed individual member; and (F) not establish discriminatory rules based on the health status of an employer member, an individual employee of an employer member, or a self-employed individual for eligibility or contribution. Finally, the bill provides that the State Corporation Commission retains its regulatory authority over any such association health plan and may impose insurance requirements, as it deems appropriate.
Constitutional amendment (first reference);executive power; state of emergency; special session. Limitsthe authority of the Governor to issue an executive order declaringa state of emergency that restricts, limits, or prohibits otherwiselawful action by a private business, nonprofit entity, or individualfor a period more than 45 days in duration without approval by theGeneral Assembly. The Governor is required to convene a special sessionfor the purpose of the General Assembly approving the extension ofsuch executive order beyond the forty-fifth day after its originalissuance and if the General Assembly does not approve such extension,the Governor is prohibited from issuing a subsequent executive orderin the same form for the same declared emergency. The General Assemblyis permitted to extend the executive order to a date requested bythe Governor or to a date of the General Assembly's choosing, butit shall not approve the extension to a date beyond the first fullweek of the next regular session of the General Assembly, unlesssuch date is requested by the Governor.
Absentee voting; definition of postmark; legibility requirement. Requires an absentee ballot returned to the generalregistrar after the closing of the polls on election day to be legiblypostmarked on or before the date of the election in order to be counted.Current law does not specify that the postmark must be legible. Thebill defines postmark, for purposes of absentee ballots returnedafter the closing of the polls on election day, to mean (i) an officialUnited States Postal Service imprint indicating the date of mailingor any other official indicia of the United States Postal Serviceused to identify the date of mailing or (ii) the mailing confirmationdata of a commercial delivery service.
Voting Rights for Women Month. DesignatesNovember, in 2021 and in each succeeding year, as Voting Rights forWomen Month in Virginia.
